Global Net Lease (GNL) and The Competition Critical Analysis

Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL) is one of 111 public companies in the “Diversified REITs” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Global Net Lease to related businesses based on the strength of its profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Global Net Lease and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Global Net Lease	-2.28%	-0.81%	-0.30%
Global Net Lease Competitors	-33.55%	-4.08%	1.01%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

61.2% of Global Net Lease shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.2% of shares of all “Diversified REITs” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Global Net Lease shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.4% of shares of all “Diversified REITs” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Global Net Lease pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.1%. Global Net Lease pays out -281.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Diversified REITs” companies pay a dividend yield of 6.8% and pay out 3,850.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Global Net Lease is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk and Volatility

Global Net Lease has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Net Lease’s peers have a beta of 1.44, indicating that their average stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Global Net Lease and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Global Net Lease	0	1	4	0	2.80
Global Net Lease Competitors	495	2474	1971	23	2.31

Global Net Lease presently has a consensus price target of $9.75, indicating a potential upside of 42.23%. As a group, “Diversified REITs” companies have a potential upside of 8.52%. Given Global Net Lease’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Global Net Lease is more favorable than its peers.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Global Net Lease and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Global Net Lease	$451.59 million	-$225.46 million	-25.39
Global Net Lease Competitors	$197.73 million	$18.17 million	5.93

Global Net Lease has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its peers. Global Net Lease is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Global Net Lease beats its peers on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

Global Net Lease Company Profile

Global Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE: GNL) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust listed on the NYSE. The firm focused on acquiring a diversified global portfolio of commercial properties, with an emphasis on sale-leaseback transactions involving single tenant, mission critical income producing net-leased assets across the United States, Western and Northern Europe.